The Forks in the Road
by El Leon Y La Oveja
Summary: When a body turns up in Forks, Washington, who else could possibly solve the murder? Brennan and Booth are called to Forks and with the help of local Doctor Cullen and his family, can they work out who murdered the teenage girl?
1. Vampires Seeking Vengeance

_Like a blurred streak of red lightening, she sped across until the field. Her movement was silent but deadly; in seconds she was perched in the tree directly above the young woman. The gentle breeze blew her scent towards the predator and she inhaled with a rush of excitement. The time was now. She leapt at her victim, teeth bared and caught her by the neck. _

_Victoria gave the young girl just enough time to see her face before she bit deep into her veins, hoping that she would remember what she had done to offend her killer. As Victoria drained the body, she allowed her mind to drift back to the previous night. Little slag. Nobody tried to hit on her James and lived to see the next sunset. She had been bold and forward, for a human. Nothing on Victoria of course but had she been a vampire, she may have possessed some of the necessary qualities to make a good hunter. _

_Female blood was slightly more sour than that of young men. Victoria usually preyed on gorgeous males as their reaction to her kiss was so enlightening. There was something strangely erotic about a quickening blood flow and then the yelp of shock and pain as her razor-sharp teeth cut into their soft flesh. Any men who found themselves attracted to Victoria would find themselves dead the next morning. If Victoria didn't drink from them, James certainly would. _

_Pale and drained of all blood, the girl lay on the mossy ground, into her face etched a mask of pain and terror. Victoria took a few seconds to enjoy anticipating her final thoughts. _

_Now came Victoria's favourite part. She took her nails and gently dragged them across the girl's pale visage, removing all the flesh. Killing her was purely for Victoria's benefit; she had to feed. Desecrating the corpse was another thing. That was her revenge upon the human and Victoria knew that she would not be identified easily. Stripping flesh and clothing all at once, Victoria hurled organs across the field and her perfect aim landed them in a muddy ditch. Once the flesh had been removed and distributed around the crime scene, Victoria twisted the skull until it separated from the rest of the body. Scraping the grass with her nails, she dug a perfect hole and buried the skull underneath the remainder of the bones. Victoria took a rounded rock and carved into it with the tip of her nail. She then laid the rock on top of the ground where she had buried the skull. _

"_Victoria, didn't Laurent tell you not to play with your food?" James had crept up behind her. Victoria did not turn from the bones in front of her but merely sniffed in reply. _

"_I wouldn't call this food. I was just making my point. No one flirts with my man and gets away with it." Walking around to face her, James smirked. _

"_I think there's a sturdy tree over there," he pointed, raising his eyebrows suggestively. "We could do a little experiment...see how long the tree can survive us." Victoria arranged the bones in a relaxed position. The girl's hands were resting on her hips and her legs were crossed casually. _

"_That looks good," James laughed. Victoria smiled maliciously and jumped to her feet in a fraction of a second. In a flash, she was perched on James's back, kissing the top of his head. As he turned to leave, she stopped him. _

"_One second. I forgot to leave a little something for the FBI…" In a flash, she had dressed the skeletal girl in her blue cardigan. The vibrant hues were clearly visible against the mottled green of the undergrowth._

"_Now we can leave." _

_In another blurred flash, the pair had long gone. _


	2. The Girl in the Grass

"_Your people are finding flesh scattered across this entire field," Cam told me. The area was swarming with police and the FBI teams and I was scanning the field in case anyone spotted the missing skull._

"Why would someone go to so much trouble to hide bits of the victim all over this area and then just leave the bones under the tallest tree for miles?" I remarked, frustrated as I strode towards Bones and Zach, who were examining the remains.

"You found anything, Bones?" She nodded, completely engrossed in the remains.

"Female. I estimate that the age is between eighteen and twenty-two. Without the skull, it's going to be difficult determine cause of death or anything more specific." A young woman. Just the confirmation made me feel sick. Lately, our victims seemed to be getting younger with every case. Bones looked up at me for the first time. "I'm going to need these remains shipped back to the Jeffersonian overnight…"

Before Bones could finish her sentence, Cam cut in.

"I'm sorry Doctor Brennan but the majority of the flesh is still missing, despite the fact that someone disposed of it in large chunks. We can't leave until I've got enough flesh to work with.

"Can't we just examine the bones?" Bones asked, obviously annoyed. "I need to get to a lab before this evidence is compromised."

"Right!" I clapped my hands together and interrupted before Bones and Cam began fighting. Once those two started, they didn't stop. "So Bones, a lab? I'm sure we can sort one out for you. In the meantime, I'll get us a hotel." Bones opened her mouth to object but I held up a hand to stop her. "C'mon Bones, it'll be just like a vacation for you. Instead of working back at the lab, you can solve a murder here in Washington State."

"Alright. I'll stay here two days maximum but if we don't recover enough flesh by then, I'm getting on the first plane home and we'll solve this case by looking at the bones. That is what I do, Booth." I rolled my eyes at her.

"I know that, Bones. Don't you think Cam should try to get as much flesh as possible so that you can get all the information about this girl?" I had to present things to Bones in a scientific way if I wanted to get her on board. After considering that for a second, she nodded.

"That does make rational sense." I winked at her.

"Alright then!" I called over to the FBI guys examining a few fingernails that had been found in a ditch. "Can we get some help over here?" I signalled to the skeletal girl in front of us. I was thankful that she looked less human than some of the bodies that Bones examined because I was finding it hard enough knowing that she was probably about eighteen years old.

"Body bag please!" Bones called.

As two of the FBI search team lifted the bones on to a stretcher to be transported, Bones grabbed my arm. I turned to look at her and she was peering down at the muddy ground.

"What is it Bones?" She pointed at a piece of rock, about the same size as a small plate that had been lying underneath the remains.

"Booth...I think someone's written on that rock." I knelt down to look but she pushed my hand away. "You'll compromise the evidence!" With a gloved hand, Bones carefully picked up the rock and I directed my torch at its face. Bones read out what we saw inscribed there.

"Here lies Anna Cavader…" Bones turned to face me. "You don't think that...her skull?" I spun around and grabbed a shovel from one of the FBI guys. As I positioned it on the ground, Bones pulled at my arm.

"Dig very carefully. The skull may be unprotected and we don't want to cause anymore trauma to the bone. It might…

"Compromise the evidence," I finished for her. "I got it, Bones."

The skull had not been buried very deep below the surface. After a few shovels of dirt, the top of the spade nudged a solid object. Bones heard the gentle thud.

"Booth!" I rolled my eyes again. Sometimes she got too enthusiastic at a crime scene.

"I know, I know, I heard it." She smoothed the dirt around what turned out to be the top of the skull in the ground. Very slowly, Bones lifted the skull up and brushed the mud out of the mouth. I could only see the back of it but I heard her inhale sharply as she stood up with the skull in her hands.

"Booth, the killer left the eyeballs intact."

I could only imagine the horrified expression that must have been on my face as I gazed into the rotting pair of innocent blue eyes staring at me out of a skull.


	3. The Forensics in Forks

"Doesn't this town have a proper lab?" Bones complained as we pulled up outside the Forks hospital.

"Bones, it was either the hospital or Forks High School. They're the only two places in town that have labs."

"The high school would probably have been better equipped," she told me pointedly, gesturing out of the window. "This hospital hardly has room for us to take over one of their rooms for the next few days." I laughed.

"Bones, Forks is one of the safest towns for miles. The cops here hardly have anything to do. This hospital is probably empty most of the time." I parked next to a shiny black Mercedes and turned to Bones. "Bones, just be nice to these people, okay? They're doing us a favour. And it wouldn't hurt to give out a few signed copies of your book while we're here."

"I don't understand," Bones replied. "How would that help the case?" I sighed.

"Just be nice, Bones."

As we made our way across the car park, one of the local cops came across to meet us.

"I'm Chief Swan of the Forks Police. Thanks for coming up." I shook his hand.

"Agent Booth of the FBI and this is my partner, Doctor Temperance Brennan." Bones smiled and shook his hand. I noticed that he looked slightly awed when I introduced her.

"I've heard all about you, Doctor Brennan. I got into your books a while back and I couldn't put them down for weeks. It sure is an honour to have you here in Forks." I had to stop myself from laughing. The guy obviously wasn't aware how much 'Doctor Brennan' had wanted to go back to D.C.

"Thank you Chief Swan," Bones replied politely. "But I'm just here to find out what happened to the girl that died." Typical Bones. She just had to ruin what was probably the most exciting day of his life. I doubted that Forks had ever met anyone as famous as Bones.

"Of course," Chief Swan nodded. "And please call me Charlie. We're not so hot on all the formality around here." Bones looked at me.

"Anthropologically speaking, small towns in very sparse areas often divide themselves and follow their own rules as opposed to nationally dictated laws. As a side effect, their justice systems can be substantially different from those of larger cities. In many cases, they can seem very tribal."

"Bones!" I stopped her before she started to offend anyone within a fifty mile radius. She looked questioningly at me.

"Booth, it's an anthropological fact. You can't deny it." I glanced at Chief Swan but he was laughing. That figured. I had never yet met a small-town-cop whom I actually liked.

"If you think that Forks is tribal, you should see La Push," Chief Swan smiled. Bones turned to me excitedly.

"La Push's Quileutes are actually a very interesting tribe. I did a short study on their history when I was in college. One of their most prominent beliefs is that the members of the tribe are descended from wolves."

Before Bones could go into a whole anthropological explanation about the Quileute wolves, another man walked up to us. He was dressed in a white coat and looked like the closest thing to a scientist that we were likely to see. I found the lack of squint activity quite relaxing but with every additional small-town-cop, I could see Bones getting more anxious that we were never going to solve the case.

"Doctor Brennan, Agent Booth?" He addressed us politely and Bones nodded. "I'm Doctor Carlisle Cullen. Welcome to Forks and thank you so much for helping us with this case. I'm afraid our forensics may not be up to the standard that you have in D.C, Doctor Brennan but we'll do our best." Bones nodded.

"Thank you. I'm sure that with access to a lab, my assistant and I can replicate some of the techniques that I would normally use."

"I hope to be of further help to you. And Agent Booth also. It was Chief Swan who found the body this afternoon so I'm sure he'll provide you with any details that you need to know."

Chief Swan held up an evidence bag with the remains of what seemed to be a blue cardigan.

"Doctor Brennan, this was found beside the remains. I think the victim was wearing it when they died." Bones took the bag and shook her head.

"No, that's not possible. I do not believe that this item belongs to the victim. The flesh was completely stripped from the remains and this clothing shows no sign of staining from blood or anything else. It's more probable to conclude that the killer removed his or her own cardigan and dressed the skeleton after the flesh had been removed." Wow. The killer dressed the murder victim in their own clothes. We definitely weren't in D.C anymore. Even Doctor Cullen suddenly looked shocked. I glanced at him and he coughed.

"Perhaps we should go inside. Doctor Addy and his associates have arrived."

"C'mon Bones, it's freezing out here. You know, they say it rains more here than ninety percent of the mainland US states." I laughed and turned to Doctor Cullen. "And you're still choosing to live here?" He smiled slightly and nodded.

"I have my reasons."

Inside the hospital, Sweets was sitting at a table, studying crime scene photographs and as soon as we walked through the door, he rushed straight over to us.

"Agent Booth, I've discerned something crucial from the way that the remains were originally positioned."

"Woah, Sweets, let us get through the door first." Sweets was well on his way to becoming worse than a squint.

"What is it?" Doctor Cullen asked. Sweets held up a photograph of the bones.

"Whoever committed this murder wasn't acting on impulse. They wanted to showcase their work, to display it. The relaxed position of this skeleton contrasts with the expression of terror on the face. It represents the killer's lack of emotion against the victim's fear and pain." Horrible scenarios were playing through my mind.

"We're dealing with a serial killer?" Sweets nodded.

"That is a possibility, yes." It was psychology versus science once again as Bones cut in.

"Sweets, there is no scientific evidence to support the claims that you just made. It's guesswork." Doctor Cullen held up a hand.

"Actually, psychology has been proven to show ingenious insights into the minds of criminals." Bones shook her head.

"That may be true," she replied. "But it's still just guessing. How can we…?" I pulled her towards the room at the end of the corridor where I could see Cam talking to another doctor.

"Bones, let's just say that we won't rule out serial killers, okay?"


	4. The Team in Town

"Carlisle, we can't just ignore this," I told him forcefully. "We know the truth. How can you work on the case with them knowing what the answer is?" Carlisle stopped pacing the room and looked straight at me.

"Edward, what do you suggest?" he asked me calmly. "Tamper with evidence? Make it look like suicide?" I was silent. "Edward, I would never insult the memory of a human being by doing something like that."

"I wasn't asking you to. Doctor Brennan's already ruled out suicide anyway due to the rate of decomposition. The body has been there for two to three weeks, according to Doctor Saroyan's examination of the little flesh that they were able to recover. That means one thing."

"Victoria and James," Jasper finished for me. "Their parting gift." I nodded.

"Carlisle, Doctor Brennan is one of the best forensic anthropologists in the country. She knew as soon as she saw the remains that they were unlike anything that she had ever encountered previously." I had listened to her thoughts from outside for hours while she and her team had examined the bones. Her mind had been very refreshing compared to Doctor Saroyan's, who's most important thought had been what Carlisle looked like underneath his doctor's coat. Unusually, Doctor Brennan had experienced no sexual thoughts regarding my father figure at all, nor any other person in the room. Her mind had remained focussed on the case. I had been impressed by her.

"I know that this is difficult for you, Edward, after what had recently happened with Bella but we need to stay calm. If I can divert their attention from certain facts then I shall but Doctor Brennan is not the kind of person who can be distracted from her work easily. She will notice if I make irrelevant observations or if the evidence were suddenly to change." I stood up.

"I'm coming with you. I need to hear what they're thinking. It will help us, you know that."

Alice would see me making the decision and bring Bella downstairs. I couldn't go without her, not after what had happened a few weeks ago.

//

"Doctor Brennan, this is my son, Edward and his girlfriend Bella. They'll just wait outside as I imagine it would be too crowded for everyone in the room." I avoided shaking hands as I supported a stumbling Bella across the waiting room. Her current situation with crutches was more dangerous for her than I could stand. She could hardly walk without falling; it was lethal. Of course, she had refused a wheelchair, saying that it would embarrass her. I had provided one regardless but said chair was now being used by Jasper and Emmett to race each other across the baseball field.

"What happened to your leg, Bella?" Doctor Brennan asked her. "The break is approximately three weeks old." Bella nodded.

"Yes. I…" she glanced at me nervously. "I fell through a window." Just as Agent Booth stepped into the waiting room, Doctor Brennan's mind started racing.

_That fracture is a result of pressure…_I prayed that she wouldn't bring that fact to light.

"Everything alright, Bones?" Agent Booth asked her. Puzzled, she pointed to Bella's leg.

"Booth, that break is not congruent with a fall through glass." Agent Booth looked at Bella's leg, then to me, then back to Doctor Brennan.

"Are you sure?" I was glad that I didn't have a blood pressure to worry about because it would have rocketed. I kept a reassuring grip on Bella's hand and I could feel her heart racing through her pulse. I stroked the back of her hand to calm her down.

"Booth, the break is three weeks old, made approximately the same time that our victim was killed."

_So this girl could have fought with our victim, who dropped a heavy weight on her leg and broke it. This guy seems pretty protective of his girlfriend so when he heard about the fight, he decided to kill the girl who broke his girlfriend's leg..._Agent Booth was speculating in his mind and I didn't like it at all. I hated the fact that we were covering up for James and Victoria by implicating ourselves.

"It's Bella, isn't it?" Agent Booth asked her, authority in his voice. Bella nodded. "Been in any fights lately?"

"No, I haven't," Bella replied. She hadn't been in the kind of fight that he meant but I hated her having to lie. If it weren't for me...

"Are you sure about that?" I decided to step in. Sorry Carlisle, I thought.

"I think that Bella would remember fighting, Agent Booth." His gaze turned to look at me.

"I think that Bella would remember how she broke her leg," he replied.

"She fell through a window," I told him firmly. "You can call the hotel and ask them what happened. They can show you the accident report that they filed and the bill for repairing the window." Agent Booth did not drop his gaze.

"I'll be checking that story out."

_Wow, that doctor is super-hot! I almost regret bringing Hodgins along on this trip. _A new voice burst into my mind as a couple wandered into the waiting room.

"Sweetie, we've positively identified the victim as Anna Cavader, age eighteen, resident at 13, Manor Close, Forks, Washington. She was reported missing two weeks ago when she disappeared after a night out with friends. Her parents thought that she was staying at a hotel after graduation but they never saw her again."

Anna Cavader. I had known her. She was at Forks High School, in the year above Bella and I, in some of the same classes as Rosalie and Emmett. She had just graduated with top grades, good enough to get into Harvard or Yale. Now, she was dead thanks to James and Victoria. None of her ambitions would ever be carried out.

_She was so young. I mean, her whole life ahead of her. Who would do something like that? _Angela Montenegro was upset for the victim. Out of everyone, I could see her sympathy and empathy draining through the most.

Agent Booth nodded solemnly.

"Thanks, Ange. Bones, you coming? I need to go and talk to her parents."


	5. Meet the Parents

"Mr and Mrs Cavader, I'm very sorry for your loss." I hated this part of my job. There was nothing in this world worse than telling someone that they would never see their sons, daughters, husbands, wives or parents again. I was a part of hundreds of people's worst memories, the day that they lost all hope and realised that their loved ones were never coming home. Despite the fact that I had performed this task over and over again, I could still remember all their names. And no matter how much empathy I put into that cliche FBI standard issue phrase, I would never have any effect upon the bereaved because they didn't want pity or understanding or the card and phone number of an FBI approved counsellor. They wanted their loved ones back and that was something that I could never give them. In fact, I gave them the opposite.

"I just can't believe that she's not going to be here anymore," Mrs Cavader sobbed. "After she graduated with such good grades. She could have done so much. She would have done so much."

"I'm sorry to have to do this but there are a few routine questions that we've got to ask," Mr Cavader nodded.

"Anything that we can do to help identify whoever murdered our daughter."

"Where was Anna the night that she went missing?" I handed an image to her parents taken from the CCTV from outside a restaurant in Port Angeles. "This is Anna, isn't it?" Mrs Cavader dried her eyes and nodded sadly.

"That's Anna on the night of graduation. She wore that dress…" As my heart sank, she burst into tears again. That meant that the girl had been killed on the same day that she graduated. I just hoped that Forks wasn't full of her friends, who had been too drunk to remember anything important. Bones leant forward.

"Who did she leave the ceremony with?"

"A group of friends," Mr Cavader replied. "I believe that they were planning on going to Port Angeles that evening. There's not much to do here in Forks, especially not for a night out with friends." I suddenly remembered something that I'd heard Chief Swan telling Bones earlier. Good thing I had such a good memory, even if I didn't have all the Squints' science skills.

"Did you get a look at any of your daughter's friends?" I asked the couple. Bones suddenly caught on.

"Good thinking Booth," she told me. "If we can match the cardigan…"

"Excuse me," Mr Cavader interrupted. "I don't understand what that has to do with my daughter's murder."

"Mr Cavader, the remains were found wearing a blue cardigan, completely intact. We can prove that the murderer probably dressed the victim in their own cardigan after the flesh had been…" I nudged Bones in the side and shot her a warning glance. Talking too explicitly about what had happened to Anna Cavader wasn't the best idea in front of her parents, something that Bones had always been a bit slow to grasp.

"Did you notice any of the girls wearing a blue cardigan?" I asked. Mr Cavader shrugged.

"I'm sorry, I've never been very observant of what people are wearing. Amanda?" Mrs Cavader shook her head.

"No, all the girls were dressed up nicely, you know. Smart tops and skirts or dresses. I'm sure that no one who was with Anna was wearing a cardigan. For once it was a nice day, sunny. They didn't even take jackets with them." I nodded.

"Could we take the names of anyone you know who was with Anna that night?"

"There was a group but I knew a few names," Mrs Cavader told me. She reached for the pen and paper on the desk and started to write. When she had finished, she handed me the paper. Bones and I stood up.

"Thank you for meeting with us, Mr and Mrs Cavader," I told them. As his wife moved through the door, Mr Cavader stopped Bones.

"I've heard that you're the best in your field," he whispered, out of earshot of his wife. "I'm asking you, please find out what happened to my Anna. I want the bastard who did this locked up." Bones nodded.

"I will do everything that I can to find the truth for you and your family," she told him gently. He turned to me.

"On that list my wife gave you, I'd start with Madeline Yorkie. She was Anna's best friend and she's clever. She will remember things that everyone else wouldn't have noticed. And she's not the type to get drunk and forget it all." I nodded again, glad that we had at least one reliable lead.

"Thank you Mr Cavader. As soon as we find anything, the FBI will let you know."

When they'd left the building, I turned to Bones. "We'd better go and find that Yorkie girl then."


	6. Evasive Evidence in the Emergency Room

"Hey Cam, did you manage to pull any DNA from the cardigan?" I called across the table when Bones and I walked in.

"How did the parents take it?" Cam asked, her eye to a microscope.

"Not well but hey, their daughter just got murdered." Bones pulled on a lab coat and went to join Cam.

"They'd probably be happier if we could get some DNA from their daughter's murderer," Bones told her. "Did you find anything?" Cam glanced up from her work with a strange expression on her face that I'd never seen before.

"What's up, Cam?" I asked her. "You alright?" She nodded.

"It's probably just the equipment or the fact that this is another lab but I'm having trouble getting a DNA sample from this cardigan." Bones frowned.

"Well, just ask Doctor Cullen how this equipment works. He said anything that we needed." I knew Cam well enough to see that there was something else bothering her.

"Cam, what's going on? It's nothing to do with the equipment, is it?" She shook her head.

"Booth, I hate to tell you this but I can't find any kind of DNA on this clothing at all. There's a few fingerprints but we've got nothing to compare them to and then a tiny blood spatter on the sleeve which turned out to be the victim's."

I stared at her. Bones was the first to break the silence.

"What about hair?" Cam shrugged.

"I've been over every inch of this material at least three times and I can't find any trace of hair or saliva." I was stunned. Who could leave no trace of hair on their clothing?

"Skin particles?" Bones persisted. "Perspiration soaked into the material?"

"Yeah, come on, who doesn't sweat a little when they're murdering a teenage girl?" I joked. Bones stared at me, deadly serious.

"A serial killer," she shrugged. "That's a possibility." Cam shook her head and I glanced over to the cardigan on the workbench.

"Bones, who doesn't leave any trace of themselves on their own clothing?" I asked, completely confused. There was no way that was feasible. I wasn't a scientist and I knew that it was impossible. Narrowing her eyes and turning to Cam, Bones shook her head.

"You must have missed something," she told Cam, who didn't take the accusation well.

"Doctor Brennan, I've scanned every inch of this material. There's nothing that we can use. The only particulates on this clothing come from soil close to where the remains were found. Hodgins identified a slight sap residue and he concluded that it came from the tree under which the skull was buried." I frowned in confusion. This case was starting to get creepy. I tried to sum up what we knew so far, which didn't seem like much to go on.

"So the murderer climbs the tree, jumps down on the victim from above…"

"...fractures the mandible with his or her knee or elbow as they land and then, they kill the girl," Bones finished off. "That fits the evidence."

"And then they dress her in their cardigan?" Cam asked. "Can we presume that it was a female?" I shook my head.

"Depending on motive, the killer could easily have dressed Anna in the cardigan belonging to another woman, especially if there was a sexual rivalry or jealousy to contend with," Sweets spoke as he entered the room. "I've got a file for you, Agent Booth. Profile of an Isabella Swan." I grabbed the file. As far as I was concerned, this girl may not have been the murderer but my gut told me that she knew something.

"You pulled the Chief's daughter for questioning?" Bones asked me. "Was that really the best idea, Booth? He's helping us." I sighed. Without evidence, I'd never convince her but sometimes, I just had a feeling about a person and I wasn't usually wrong.

"I didn't question her. Not yet, anyway. I just asked Sweets to do a quick profile." I turned to the shrink. "And what did you conclude? Could she be our killer?" Sweets shook his head.

"She's very conscientious. Polite and respectful of other people. I'm pretty certain that she's not the murdering type but I think she's lying to you about how her leg got broken."

"Booth, I can assure you that she's lying about how her leg got broken," Bones put in. I nodded to her.

"And if she's not telling the truth about her leg, who is she trying to protect and why?"

I had a feeling that although Isabella Swan wasn't completely guilty, she knew something that she was holding back. She didn't come across as someone who generally obstructed justice, so what was so important to her that she couldn't tell the truth to FBI officials?

Bones turned to Cam again and pointed to the cardigan.

"Are you trying to tell me that the owner of this cardigan was able to pick up particulates from their surrounding area without depositing any of their own DNA on to the material? Because that's not scientifically possible." I had to admit, I was with Bones. There was no way that someone could wear clothes and not leave DNA covering them.

"Was the cardigan worn?" I asked. "Are you sure the killer didn't just...drag it behind them or something?" Bones shook her head.

"Angela photographed the slight mould of the wearer's body left inside the cardigan. The stretching will hopefully be able to show us the approximate size and body measurements of the person who wore the cardigan."

"Does she have those results?" Cam asked. Bones shook her head.

"It's going to take longer without access to her computer program back at the lab. She's having to improvise with her laptop." I nodded.

"Just tell her to keep working on it. Make that her first priority. Once we've got a few suspects, we can match body shape and size to their proportions." I was confident that once Bones and I had spoken to the victim's friends, we'd have a lot more to go on.

"I'll see you later," Sweets announced. "I'm meeting Emmett Cullen for lunch at a place in town." I frowned. Sweets wasn't usually one for mixing with the locals.

"You're having lunch with the Doctor's son? Why?"

"Adopted son, actually," Bones corrected. I spun around.

"Adopted? Who told you that?" Bones looked confused.

"Nobody. I mean, their distinct facial markers are completely different. And although the blonde girl and one of the boys claim to be biological brother and sister, they're not. Doctor Cullen has adopted five teenagers." I whistled slowly.

"Five teenagers. Wow. That's gotta be a strain for him and the wife, right?" Bones shrugged.

"It seems as though he's very happy to do it. He saved them from a life in the foster system. There's no telling what could have happened to them in there." I smiled at Bones. If only she'd found someone earlier in her life who didn't let her down, someone who would look after her and be there whenever she needed someone.

"He's a good guy," I agreed. "And Sweets, you still haven't answered my question. What's with the lunch date?"

"Apparently Emmett took a few psychology classes last year," Sweets explained. "He was debating whether to study it further. He's just graduated, you know. I was just going to give him some advice, see if he knows anything about the victim." I nodded.

"Good. Yeah, see if he knew her personally. See what other people thought of her, if she had any enemies that her friends didn't know about." If Sweets could find out what her peers thought of her, a suspect could emerge before we'd even spoken to her friends.

"Sure," Sweets agreed. "I'll see you."

"Oh and Sweets?" Bones called after him as he left. "Make sure you explain to him that psychology is not considered a valid science by many academics within the true field."


	7. The Psychologist and the Jock

I sat in the dull cafe, drumming my heels gently against the table leg, careful not to leave an impression. _I'm going to get you for this, Edward, _I thought, knowing that he would be listening. Just because Jasper was too unpredictable to lunch with the human, I had to sit here, pouring some vile brown liquid down my throat, pretending to be interested in studying psychology. The entire lunch had been pre-scripted by Edward and Jasper, giving me maximum manipulation power. Carlisle had arranged it and Edward had just informed me that Doctor Squeaks was under orders to grill me about the murder victim. I had been in a few of Anna's classes but I'd never spoken to her. I'd just have to wing it.

"Emmett?" I looked up to see a guy, about twelve years of age. It wasn't the FBI psychologist?! No wonder they never got any murders solved. He probably wasn't even old enough to get a gun license. I snorted and held out a hand.

"Hey, you must be Doctor Squeaks. Thanks for coming along." He blushed. Thank god we hadn't sent Jasper or the kid would be drained of his blood and lying in a pool of coffee by now.

"It's actually Doctor...Sw...never mind." I waved at him to sit down.

"You want some pie or something?" I offered. He picked up the menu, looking slightly intimidated.

"What's good to eat here?" That threw me right off. As a local schoolboy, I was obviously expected to have some knowledge of the cafe and its disgusting cuisine. _You're dead, Edward,_ I thought viciously. I hadn't eaten in nearly a century. What the hell was I supposed to suggest? I glanced at the menu. _Ip dip doo, Edward died from flu, Alice is a mentalist and Jasper is too. _I picked the dish that my finger landed on.

"That's my favourite. _Er…_ tuna mayonnaise with assorted salad. _What? Nice going. Now I'm going to have to eat some sort of fish with bits of grass on the side?_

"Great!" Doctor Squeaks replied. The waitress nodded to him. "Two tuna mayonnaises please." I smiled my best charming smile. I was dreading the arrival of the vile dish which I would ultimately have to consume. I was praying that someone would apologise and explain that there was no food left so would we mind going outside and catching our own grizzly bears? Unfortunately, I still had a conversation to stage before I could get to the lunch part. Thank god I'd just been hunting with Alice or I'd probably have refused to go through with this. I'd already had to put the meeting off for a few hours while I washed grizzly blood out of my hair and found a new set of clothes.

"Sorry about postponing," I stuck to Edward's script. "I had some other engagements this morning."

"That's perfectly alright," Squeaks told me. "I was just working on the case." My mind drifted to one of Edward's footnotes in the margin of my script of lunch lines. _Play the awe-struck teenage boy. _

"You really work for the FBI?" I murmured to myself. "Wow, that must be pretty exciting. We don't get much excitement here...except, you know, when your classmate winds up murdered." I added a sad and sincere tone to the last part of my speech. _Evoke sympathy and trust. _Tick.

"I'm sorry about Anna, Emmett. Were you two close at all?" I shook my head, wishing that I could conjure up some tears to add to the effect.

"I feel kinda guilty about it now. You know, we never really spoke but I guess I knew that she was a nice person. Makes me wish that I'd gotten to know her a bit, you know?" Doctor Squeaks nodded.

"It's perfectly natural to feel that you miss something that you've never had. Because once it's gone, the chance that you might someday have it has also vanished. You're upset because you'll never get the chance to know Anna Cavader now, whether you planned to or otherwise."

Wow. He was just eating it all up! I nodded, with my sad-little-boy expression.

"Who killed her?" I asked, watching his face closely. "Did she suffer much?" The psychologist shook his head.

"We haven't got a definitive match for the killer yet but I know that Anna didn't suffer. It was very quick."

The waitress returned with two plates, loaded with an evil-smelling substance. It looked like carpet fluff in bread, like the time I didn't clean under my bed for a decade.

"Tuna mayonnaise with a salad garnish," she smiled. "Can I get you anything else?" I noticed that she directed her words at me instead of Doctor Squeaks.

"I'm fine, thanks," I replied, trying not to inhale the putrid scent from my plate. The only time that I had ever been this close to eating grass before was when I chased a deer into Edward's meadow and I accidentally sunk my teeth through the animal into a huge patch of vegetation.

Doctor Squeaks dug into his food and I tried not to watch him, completely repulsed.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned. "You're not eating." I picked up the sandwich roughly and some of the tuna oozed out. I almost gagged.

"I'm...post-traumatic stress maybe?" He nodded thoughtfully.

"You must be very sensitive if that's the case." I shrugged. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"I can be overly-responsive. Quite sensitive so I've been told. Maybe that's why I have a keen interest in the field." Squeaks nodded eagerly.

"Some people will tell you that psychology is a weak science but it takes just as much skill as the others, if in slightly different ways," he explained. I rolled my eyes to myself. Little did he know that Carlisle and Rosalie had that argument regularly and I had firmly sided with my wife, out of fear of a prolonged abstinence if I annoyed her. She hated psychology but Carlisle strongly believed in its merits. For once, Edward hadn't entered that debate but I guessed that was because he agreed with Rosalie and didn't want to go against Carlisle. I nodded.

"Psychology can be very useful," I agreed. "It provides the base work for scientific exploration in many cases." I was using all of Carlisle's arguments. "Wouldn't Doctor Brennan say that her process of sifting through evidence is dictated by psychology, by what was more likely to have happened, according to who was more likely to have committed a murder?" Doctor Squeaks smiled.

"Doctor Brennan is against psychology. She believes it to be nothing more than guesswork." Secretly, I wanted to applaud the woman. But I had a role to play.

"She's in denial," I stated. Squeaks nodded and took a bite of his sandwich. I pretended to nibble mine.

"Emmett, can I ask you a question? Something personal?" I nodded enthusiastically. At least that would be verging towards the truth, as opposed to me pretending to like psychology.

"Sure. Go ahead, Doctor Squeaks." He smirked slightly and I wasn't quite sure why.

"Thank you." He paused for a second to study me. I felt like an animal in some kind of cage and I didn't really like the feeling much. "Emmett, do you find that your family life is affected negatively by the fact that you are dating your adopted sister and your sister, Alice is in a relationship with another adopted brother of yours?"

Crap. How did I answer that? _Edward, that was NOT on the script, _I thought furiously.

"Um...well, I don't think so," I replied. "See, without Carlisle and Esme, that's our mother, we'd be in the foster system. And that would suck big time. It feels even more like a family because we've got the whole package. I've got a wi...girlfriend who I love. My sister is happy because she loves Jasper. I have a brother, Edward, I have a brother-in-law, Jasper, I have a sister, Alice. I've got Carlisle and Esme, who are the best parents that I could ever have asked for. They're my family. And Rosalie, well I love her. She's my soulmate and I feel like I'm not missing anything when I'm with all of those people. I don't have my blood relatives, my biological family but it's like I don't miss them anymore. As long as you have the people, it doesn't matter what they are, right? As long as they're around, as long as we're all together...everything's gonna be good."

I stopped for breath which was a stunt in itself considering I didn't need to breathe anyway. Doctor Squeaks was staring at me with emotions that I could only recognise as shock, pride and a slight envy. We stared at each other across the table for a long moment until his phone rang.

"Agent Booth? What...alright, I'll be there as soon as I can. Thanks." He hung up and replaced the phone in the pocket of his suit.

"Gotta go?" I asked. He nodded.

"Sorry to cut our meeting short. It was great to talk to you, Emmett." I grinned and almost held out my hand before I realised that I was ice, ice baby.

"Thanks Doctor Squeaks. I never knew that psychologists were so good at getting stuff out of people." He laughed.

"When people want to talk, they usually do." I nodded and laughed back.

"I'll keep that in mind."

He turned to leave but before he left, he laid some money down on the table and looked me in the eyes.

"You're very lucky, Emmett," he told me. "You have a wonderful family." I could almost see the sadness behind his carefree expression.

"I know," I smiled. "I'm grateful."

As he pulled on his jacket, I saw the name tag reflecting in the light.

_Doctor Sweets, FBI_

Whoops...


	8. The Shrink in the Shambles

I drove slowly, relying upon instinct for the majority of my reactions. My subconscious gradually took over my mind and replayed the conversation that I'd had over lunch.

_As long as you have the people…_

Except I didn't have the people. I had the scars to remind me what I'd lost, metaphorically and literally.

My hand automatically wandered to the side of my torso where I felt the tiny circular imprint of a cigarette butt, left on the skin of a crying child. My shoulder blades flinched at the memory of a leather belt flicking into the air and cracking, slapping at contact with bare flesh. Invisible hands gripped my shoulders, holding me in place as my skin tore and bled beneath a rough strap, embedding itself in my body. My fingers sore from punching out 911 over and over again, my head aching from the resulting blows when I was discovered.

After all this time, I was still the frightened child who cowered behind the sofa when he heard his drunken father smash through the front door. I still feared the arrival of the mother who would willingly allow her son to take the burden of his father's violent rages, a woman who lost her second child at the hands of alcohol and constant beatings, night after night. The lump under her dress never prospered past the safety of the uterus. And yet the uterus was still intact; the shelter that had sheathed and protected me remained even today. I needed to shed it but I had no idea how. Long after, the nightmares still tormented me until I sat up working through many long nights, wondering if Doctor Brennan and Agent Booth were filled with similar angsts. Knowing that they suffered was a slight comfort; I was not alone with my traumas. Yet I could not talk to them because they would only open up to each other. But not to me. Never to the probing, persistent shrink who wanted to quantify their experiences with his little notebooks and psychological terminology. They never realised that I wrapped myself in everyone else's lives to distract from my own, to draw focus from my own past and to shine the light of admittance into someone else's tear-stained eyes. Never could I leave my work because if I stopped helping people, I would lose hope that I could ever be helped.

But Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, Alice, Edward…

They had suffered through the loss of their parents. I could see that. But in some way, some miraculous turn of luck, they had found Carlisle Cullen and his wife, Esme. It saddened me to see them because they reminded me of my foster parents, the two wonderful human beings who had given me a new life, given me hope and above all, given me the gift of love. I had lost my saviours and it had destroyed me. There was no one else to replace them, to fill the hole.

I had tried. I was naturally drawn to two people who I believed to be in a similar position. Two people with dark secrets in their pasts. At first, I had imagined that we would bond, share, become close and support each other. Unfortunately, I needed and wanted them far more than they needed or wanted me because I had neglected to notice one crucial factor.

Seeley Booth and Temperance Brennan had each other. They were each other's rock, they had their partner's shoulder to cry on. And something that I had lived by, not out of choice, for most of my life came into play once more.

Two's a company, three's a crowd.

So I hung around in the background, like the annoying kid in the playground who won't leave two best friends alone to plan a sleepover that he's not invited to.

I was alone in the world and there wasn't anyone that I could really talk to at all. The Cullen kids all had each other, Angela and Hodgins had their love, Brennan and Booth had their partnership. I was the odd one out, the spare part, the person that wasn't invited because no one ever remembered to include the annoying shrink who tried to bring up what everyone wanted to forget.

It was in seeing that other troubled people could create bonds that I felt truly alone and deserted. Every time somebody attacked my psychology, it felt as thought they were personally wounding me. It was my life, the career that I'd built for myself and if my work was belittled and undervalued, it hit me straight in the heart. As a professional, I saw it in myself; I knew that my lifestyle was unhealthy and too centered around my work but I had nothing else to base my life on. I couldn't live a worthless existence. That would essentially mean that my life was pointless.

I didn't get down often. My childhood memories haunted me but I had learnt to block them out over the years, to replace the fear with something constructive. Whenever I felt a memory coming out, forcing its way into my consciousness, I wrote poetry, I worked on the cases, I watched television.

Blocking out my past didn't ameliorate my loneliness but it stopped it from becoming such a prominent feature of my life.

The car skidded to a halt in the parking lot. I slammed the door, taking out my feelings on an inanimate object.

Angela and Hodgins strolled in the opposite direction, their hands entwined, looking for a place to eat lunch.

I headed over to point them in the direction of the cafe in which I had just eaten a very enjoyable meal.

They smiled their thanks and departed.

I could do no more than try...


	9. Interrogation Station

"Emmett, stop flicking paint at Bella!" I shouted. "If she falls over and breaks her other leg, I'm going to blame you." He grinned.

"Calm it, bro. She's not going to break a leg slipping over on paint."

Alice and Rosalie were busy twirling paintbrushes over the walls.

"Black is such a dreary colour," Rosalie moaned. "Couldn't we have gone for something a little lighter?" Alice shook her head.

"It's an interrogation room, Rose. It's meant to be depressing, get people to confess to all their dark deeds." Rosalie sniffed. _In this case, it's pretty pointless,_ she thought. I glared at her.

"I thought that was what churches were meant for?" she sniped. _We might as well get a wooden stake and go on a vampire hunt like they used to back when Carlisle was human for all the good it would do. We evaded them then, we evade them now. Except our family practically __**are**__ them now. _

"That's verging on philosophical Rose," I remarked, earning a vicious scowl.

"Get out of my head," she growled. "God, you couldn't even turn into a normal vampire, could you? What kind of freak were you when you were human?" I glanced at Bella, who was propped awkwardly up against a dry patch of wall.

"Stop it, Rose," I hissed. "There are people in this building."

"And don't we know it," she snarled. "No wonder Jasper couldn't come, in case he got too excited and started sucking at that cute FBI guy's neck." Alice jumped off her ladder.

"Shut up Rosalie," she told her. _Edward, why don't you take Bella for some lunch? _

"Bella already ate," I informed Alice, who was staring at Rosalie. "Stop it, you two."

"Jasper can't help it, Rose. Don't forget what you did when you first changed. Fun little vengeance for you, was it?"

_Edward, would you look the other way while I rip her head off? _Rosalie's thoughts were going wild. Alice laughed.

"I just saw you flat on your back on the floor. So if you want to embarrass yourself, go ahead." I sighed.

"Stop it you two." I stepped in between them but Emmett pushed me out of the way.

"Don't touch her, Alice," Alice raised her eyebrows. _Edward, this won't turn into anything. Trust me. _

"Come on then," Alice laughed. "I'm pretty sure that I could take both of you."

The three of them stood still for a second, Alice smirking, Rosalie scowling and Emmett trying to work out whether he and Rosalie could beat Alice. Then, they burst out laughing.

"You're hilarious, Emmett!" Alice cracked up. "Was that expression supposed to be threatening?" At that, Bella started giggling too and I tried to suppress a smirk. Rosalie sniffed.

"I think we should get back to work on this funeral parlour...sorry, interrogation room."

"It's going to be great!" Alice exclaimed to Bella. "We're having a black metal desk, steel chairs, no windows and a two-way glass halfway across the wall. Emmett's going to knock through another door. I've seen a picture of the one that they have back in DC and I'm recreating it!"

"I'd confess rather than spend hours in this depressing little place," Rosalie stated. I laughed.

"I think that's the point, Rosalie. They're supposed to look intimidating."

Alice clapped her hands.

"Alright, enough chatter everyone! Back to work!" Rosalie pointed to a white line on the wall.

"Did you want it painted past there?" Alice shook her head.

"Nope, that's the room for their psychologist. He can observe whilst unseen!" Emmett suddenly snorted.

"The weedy little guy who looked about twelve?" I nodded.

"Doctor Lance Sweets," I informed him. "And despite that fact that he looks young, he has multiple doctorates and other prestigious qualifications." Rosalie snorted.

"I don't consider psychology a true science," she told us. "Anyone could do it. You could be a better psychologist than him." I burst out laughing.

"Of course I would!" I replied, in between Alice and Bella's hysterics. "I can read people's minds!"

"Come on," Alice called, as her giggles subsided. "I want this room finished today! Focus! When they walk in tomorrow with Madeline Yorkie, this will be interrogation station!"

"Madeline Yorkie?" Rosalie asked. "That girl who got straight As?" I nodded.

"She was with Anna the night she died."

_Well, they're not going to find a murderer, are they? _Rosalie thought maliciously.

"Exactly! They want to question her, let them question her!" Alice waved her hands. "So? Interrogation station people!"


	10. The Man and the Victim

"Miss Yorkie?" A shy-looking girl with long brown hair stood up and nodded. I noticed the tissue clutched in her hand as she walked across the room.

"Madeline's fine," she told me as I held the door open for her.

Despite my initial suspicions surrounding the Cullen family and the mysterious Bella, I had to admit, they had done a great job providing me with an interrogation room in Forks. The police station was no bigger than my office back at the FBI and lacked the necessary space to question suspects away from the nosy eyes of small town cops on their coffee breaks.

"Take a seat, Madeline," I invited the girl. She sat opposite me.

"I'm sorry for the loss of your friend," I began. "How close were you?" Madeline brought the tissue to her eyes.

"Anna was my best friend. We had all sorts of plans for after graduation. We were going to take a trip across the country together before next fall," Madeline sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I just can't believe that she's not here anymore."

"What happened on the night of graduation, Madeline?" I asked her. The lack of evidence connected to the case was beginning to annoy me. Someone had to have seen something that we could use.

"We were all at a bar in Port Angeles. Lots of bars, in fact. But the last one was where she met him." I folded my arms on the table and looked at the girl.

"Who did she meet? What did he look like?" She took a deep breath before continuing.

"He was good-looking, I suppose. Muscular, long blonde hair, that sort of thing. I don't know who he was. He wasn't with any of us, he was just sitting in the corner on his own." Madeline paused and squeezed her tissue even more tightly before speaking again. "It wasn't like Anna to drink excessively but she'd had a lot that night. She started to flirt with that strange guy and he seemed to like it. He kept...whispering things in her ear and making her laugh. He wanted her to go home with him."

I glanced at Sweets, who was hidden behind the two-way glass.

"Did Anna leave the bar with that man?" I questioned. "Was there anyone with him?" Madeline shook her head.

"No, she didn't go back to his place. She wanted to but I told her not to. She'd had too much to drink. Instead she gave him her phone number and she said that he could call her in the afternoon. It was already about two in the morning by that point. He left a few minutes before we did. He was alone all night but he didn't have a car pick him up afterwards. He just walked off down the main street."

I considered the information carefully.

"Had the man been drinking much alcohol?" She shook her head.

"I didn't see him drink a thing all the time we were there. He bought Anna drinks all night though."

Clearly something suspicious was going on there. He'd had enough money to buy a teenage girl alcohol but didn't have anything himself.

"Are you sure that Anna didn't run off to meet him once you went home?" Madeline nodded.

"I took Anna home with me," she answered. "Didn't Anna tell her parents? She told me that they'd be alright with it."

So Anna hadn't gone missing the night of her graduation. She'd gone missing the next day or even after that.

"So when did Anna leave to meet the man from the bar?" I asked Madeline.

"The next afternoon," she replied, holding out a piece of paper. "We got home at three in the morning and I slept until after lunchtime the following day. We were all so exhausted. When I woke up, all Anna's stuff was still there but she'd gone and left me this note."

_12.30pm_

_Maddie,_

_Thanks 4 lookin after me last nite (& 4 cleanin up after me back urs). _

_Got a message frm guy from last nite- can u believe? Am off 2 meet him & really excited 2 see what happens next. _

_Will mayb see u later- if not then tomorrow. _

_Love Anna xx :)_

I looked up.

"So Anna left while you were still asleep?" Madeline nodded.

"I thought she might have seen the danger of it the next morning but obviously she really thought he was something special. Now she's...dead and it's all my fault. I should have looked after her better." Madeline was crying by the end of the sentence. I did my best to look kindly at her.

"We still have no proof it's the man Anna met in the bar who's responsible for this," I reminded her. "Is there anything else you'd like to say?" Madeline nodded and wiped her eyes once more.

"I know most of us were underage in that bar but it was graduation night. Please don't report the owner. He's the uncle of one of our friends and he's generally pretty good with the rules. If he gets shut down, everyone will think that I've talked."

I felt a stab of irritation. Had the owner been more responsible, Madeline's best friend might still be alive.

"I'll do what I can."

As Angela escorted Madeline outside, I called Bones in.

"I've got a lead, Bones." She nodded impatiently.

"Sweets told me everything. But we've found something new."


	11. The Cullen in the Crime

**Carlisle POV**

"They're going to find this," Alice entered the room, with her hair swept back from the wind and a video tape in her hands.

"You took it?" Esme asked. I could see her worrying. Alice shook her head and she relaxed.

"I made a copy," she told us. Emmett snorted from the sofa.

"They're still recording CCTV on tapes in Port Angeles? You'd have thought they'd have moved on to discs by now!"

"Why?" Jasper laughed. "Forks hasn't even got security cameras in town!"

"What did you find out?" I asked Alice. She sighed.

"Victoria and James. They're on the tape. They definitely killed that girl." I felt my heart sink as Alice determined that it was our kind who would be hunted by the FBI.

"What does this mean for us?" Rosalie demanded. "Are we safe here?" I stood up.

"Everyone, calm down. We'll just have to tell the truth. The truth is that James is dead. We know that. He died in Phoenix. The circumstances are of little importance. Once Anna's murderer is confirmed dead, the FBI and the scientists will leave Forks. They only want to solve the case." I stopped speaking as Alice shook her head.

"I can see it, Carlisle. They're going to see footage from the security camera of Victoria and Doctor Brennan will even find the imprint of Victoria's hand on the body. They'll match everything to her and then look everywhere to find her." I sighed.

"So what do we do then?" Emmett asked. "Go out and hunt Victoria down ourselves?"

"How did they manage it?" Jasper asked. "James especially. How did a hunter stay in such close proximity to a human girl all night and then watch without drinking as Victoria split her blood? Why are they so much stronger than they let us believe that night with Bella?"

I considered his question. James and Victoria were obviously able to resist blood far better than they had led us to believe. Perhaps Edward had been right and it was merely the thrill of forbidden blood which so urged James to pursue Bella.

"They clearly have years of practise behind them and desire blood only to satisfy their thirst. An act like the one they committed three weeks ago was in no way intended to provide them with sustenance, merely to entertain themselves and assert their power over humans." I shuddered at the thought of it. "Creatures like James and Victoria may well have planned their attack on a human girl. They may have watched Anna all night and attempted to lure her into James's arms. Edward knows that Victoria is very jealous and loves to destroy anyone who dares to find James appealing, or anyone whom he finds appealing. She was instantaneously envious of our Rosalie as soon as she laid eyes upon her."

Emmett's arm tightened around Rosalie's waist as Alice stepped forward.

"Carlisle, we need to fake Victoria's death. We have to make it seem as though she and James died in that fire in Phoenix. You're right, once the murderer is confirmed dead, the case will be closed. But Victoria's the murderer, not James. The FBI will have no proof that they were anything more than friends who happened to meet in Forks."

I nodded. I hated to lie and deceive but it was necessary for the protection of everyone in the town.

"Jasper, the documents regarding the fire will have to state that there were two deaths as a result and the dead will have to have been identified as James and Victoria. Now James has already been recorded as having died there, thanks to statements from Edward and myself, passing witnesses. We told the emergency services in Phoenix that we saw him enter the building on our way to the hotel down the street where Bella fell through the window." I paused to consider.

"What about Victoria?" Jasper asked. "Can she be accounted for?" I shook my head.

"You'll have to tweak the records and do what you can, Jasper. I'm sorry we couldn't be of more use."

"Actually," Alice interrupted. "I think I can." We turned to look at her. " I had a vision after the fight, when Bella was in hospital," she continued. "Of Jasper in Phoenix trying to add Victoria's name to the recorded dead for the fire. I didn't know why at the time but this was clearly the reason. So when the police asked me what I'd seen, I said that there could have been a red-haired woman with the man who died. I said I wasn't sure if I'd seen her or not. So they wrote it down as a possibility. All Jasper would have to do is confirm it."

I smiled at her.

"Well done, Alice. That will benefit us immensely. How is it that Edward didn't question what you were doing?"

"He was too busy worrying about Bella," she explained. "He probably didn't even hear my thoughts."

"Carlisle?" Rosalie put in. I turned to her.

"Yes?"

"Even if we can prove to them that James and Victoria died in Phoenix, how are we going to find someone to confirm that they were in Forks, then travelled to Phoenix? We can't do it, it would raise too many suspicions about why the most popular doctor in town was friends with two murdering nomads who just wander around from state to state without leaving any trace of themselves behind."

"That is a good point Rosalie," I agreed. "But I believe I have a suggestion."

"Go ahead," Alice urged me. "That will work."

"Rosalie, I will need you and Alice to phone our friends in Alaska." Her expression changed as she understood me. "We will need Tanya's help in order for this to work."

"Will she?" Esme asked. She had been quiet for a long time and looked quite nervous. "Will Tanya agree, Alice?" Alice nodded.

"I think so. But we'll need to act as if Edward is in danger. That will urge her to help us."


	12. The Alibi in Alaska

**Rosalie POV**

"So you'll need me to come down to Forks?" Tanya asked over the phone.

"Yes," Alice replied. "You'll need to tell them that you used to live here. Jasper will get the paperwork sorted for you. When they ask about James and Victoria, explain that they were very old friends who didn't realise you'd moved. You can pretend that your family couldn't cope with them anymore and never gave them your new address. They turned up in Forks, expecting to see you and were told that you'd moved to Alaska."

Tanya was silent for a moment.

"Please, Tan?" I pleaded. "I really don't want to have to move again." I could almost hear her half-smiling over the phone.

"How would I explain that I know you two and Carlisle? Our actual relationship won't go down well with the FBI, I'm sure. Two vampire families who have lived together in the past but split up into separate covens recently to avoid detection from humankind. Yes, the FBI would just love that." Alice and I laughed.

"Carlisle already thought of that one. How about we used to water your plants while you were on holiday and Esme used to pop round for coffee once a month and one time, she saw Victoria and James who happened to be visiting you?" Alice rattled off the excuse as if she'd rehearsed it. I heard Tanya sigh.

"I don't know, the FBI? If the Volturi heard about this, I'm sure they wouldn't be happy."

"They'd be less happy if a vampire was arrested for murder by humans. If we don't shove suspicion on to someone else, the Cullens are going to on the FBI hit list. They suspect us, Edward says so." I paused for dramatic effect. "You know, Edward's the most in danger here," I added.

"What?" Tanya replied. I could hear the little catch in her voice.

"Edward. In danger." I repeated. "The FBI suspect Bella because she's not telling them what really happened three weeks ago. Doctor Brennan, that anthropologist woman thinks that Edward's hiding something major. Which he is, just nothing relevant to the case."

"Temperance Brennan?" Tanya asked. "I love her books! They're great when I can't find a human male for the night!" I sighed.

"Tan, please focus."

"Edward..." Tanya spoke quietly, almost to herself. Alice and I exchanged a smirk.

"And we all know how you love human guys, Tanya," I told her. "That FBI agent is pretty hot."

I heard Emmett smashing his fist against the wall downstairs.

"OK, I'll do it," Tanya replied after a few moments.

"Thank you!" I almost squealed.

"Rose, you're nearly hurting my ears!" Tanya complained.

"Sorry," I sang down the phone.

"Carlisle says he'll be forever grateful," Alice chimed in. "And he's immortal, so he really will be!"

"Alright, alright!" Tanya laughed. "I'll see you as soon as the gorgeous agent summons me for questioning."

"Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah," Tanya replied. "Waiting for humans to call me in. Wow, times sure do change."


	13. The Dinner in the Date

"So how's the science going?" Booth sat across the table from me, his eyes glinting in the light of the little candle which I had told the waitress was unnecessary. She'd lit it anyway, evoking a smirk from Booth. I sighed at his question, something I rarely did when science was the matter of the discussion.

"It's impossible, Booth. We must be missing something crucial. Zach and I have been over the bones countless times and we can't find anything to explain the level of damage to the soft tissue. Cam can't pull DNA and Hodgins has only found particulates to confirm what we already know about the location of the body."

"But the handprint..." Booth began. I nodded.

We had discovered what appeared to be the imprint of a hand on the victim's pelvis. A blow strong enough to leave a mark on the bone would have devastated the murderer's hand yet no such injury had been reported in Forks, Port Angeles, La Push or any of the surrounding hospitals. Without medical attention, the person who had hurt their hand so severely would be dead by now.

"I don't see how we can explain it as a handprint, Booth." I told him. "The only conclusion that Zach and I can come to is that it must have been inflicted by either a mechanical hand, a model of a hand or the hand of someone already dead. I don't see how a person could move their own arm with enough force to cause the marks on the bone."

"Was it the victim's own hand? They could have slammed it into her pelvis post-mortem?" I shook my head.

"The angle is all wrong. Even if her arm was broken, which it isn't, it would take more force than can be generated to cause micro-fractures on the bone." I had examined them myself and it had taken a long time to discern the markings as a handprint.

"Are you sure it's a hand, Bones?"

"Definitely," I replied. "Angela connected the impact points on her computer and it's a hand. I am convinced."

Booth smiled and leaned forwards.

"So how about Forks, huh? How are you enjoying this rainy little town?" I nodded.

"Despite my initial reluctance to stay here, I have found everything to be very pleasant." It was refreshing to get away from the buzz of the Jeffersonian and the FBI offices to work in a place where a few people were on duty every single day, in a town where everyone knew everyone and treated us like royalty for coming to help to solve their murders.

"Everyone has been friendly," I added. "Chief Swan was particularly amusing earlier." I suppressed a laugh as I recalled our conversation in the hospital parking lot. Booth's raised his eyebrows. I wasn't sure why, but he didn't look entirely pleased.

"Amusing? You find small town cops amusing? I thought you said they had their own warped little justice system and some other anthro-babble?" I shook my head. Booth really didn't understand anthropology.

"Yes, but that's not necessarily a disadvantage, Booth. Society was built upon the big cities and tiny little villages in remote areas are left to make a system work which was never intended for use in their kind of lifestyle. So what do they do? They twist it and warp it but as long as the fundamental principles are retained, they're only giving themselves the ability to prosper. I find it fascinating."

Booth was left looking a little confused and so I didn't continue. It was the end of a long day and he must have been quite tired after hours of interrogations with the town's population of teenagers to confirm Madeline Yorkie's story as true.

"So Chief Swan's amusing?" Booth raised his eyebrows again. I nodded.

"I find his sense of humour very refreshing. He was telling a joke about bones." Booth smirked.

"A joke about bones. I thought you hated people making jokes about your work." I sighed.

"There was no corpse on the table in front of us, Booth." I explained.

"Alright." Booth sat with his arms crossed and his eyes on me. I felt as though he was waiting for something but I couldn't discern what.

"Alright what?" He rolled his eyes.

"Tell me the joke. The joke about bones." He laughed to himself. I smiled.

"Oh. Okay. I'll have to remember it first." Booth's eyes twinkled at me as they often did and not merely due to the candlelight. I laughed softly to myself as I remembered.

"Why didn't the skeleton go to the disco?" I recited. Booth smirked again. "You're supposed to reply 'I don't know'," I reminded him.

"I don't know," Booth replied, still smiling at me. I looked at him.

"Because he had no body to go with!" Booth was still laughing. "Do you get it?" I asked. It had seemed a lot more amusing when Chief Swan had told it. Booth nodded.

"Everyone knows that joke, Bones." I looked at him, puzzled.

"Do they? I hadn't heard that before."

"No, you hadn't." Booth laughed until the waitress came over.

"Welcome to La Bella Italia. Can I get you anything?" The waitress was staring at Booth with a strange smile on her face. I wondered if she was stupid. I hadn't been looking at the menu so I just picked the first thing that I saw.

"I'll have the mushroom ravioli, please."


End file.
